Marketing Concept Example – Successfully Selling Cake

The marketing concept is the heart of the marketing. The aim is to develop a sophisticated marketing concept that is optimally geared towards the target group and that is as efficient as possible and / or acquires as many customers as possible.

This sounds relatively complicated in theory, but in practice is not as complex as our marketing concept example shows below. Imagine, you want to sell cake at the football tournament, which will take place next week in the neighboring village …

Who should buy the pieces of cake? Your target audience!

A well-developed marketing concept always starts with the target group – as with our marketing concept example. The first question is thus, who goes to the sporting event and who might feel like it on your cake pieces.

From experience you know that, of course, the athletes participate, but also families and friends – the fans – will be there. The footballers themselves like to eat a piece of cake according to a good friend of theirs(who is also a footballer), the cake should not be too heavy, it should provide energy and taste good. For the fans, you assume that the classic cakes are best.

They are planning an energy cake for the athletes with raisins, caramelized oatmeal and some honey. For the audience, you thought of a chocolate cake.

Yet, before you align your marketing concept to these 2 cakes, ask your friends (market research) who will both actively participate in the football tournament and go as supporters. Both confirm that you are correct in your choice. With the fans, however, is added that about half would rather a lemon cake wishes (needs).

Feel free to take up the feedback and plan your stand at the football tournament.

Gelato Milanese, marketing goals & competitive advantage

Now you understand your audience and their needs, you need to think about who your competition is, what goals you want to achieve next week, and how you can differentiate yourself – it’s about market analysis, marketing goals, and marketing strategy. All three elements are important components of the marketing concept and thus also of our marketing concept example.

In the football tournament, it is like an Italian ice cream seller standing next to you. So the question is, how do you position yourself best so that you do not lose a big part of the turnover to the ice cream seller “Gelato Milanese” – after all, only a few people eat an ice cream AND a piece of cake!

As part of the market analysis, your goal is to bake a total of 30 cakes and to sell them (a cake is 12 cake pieces). Since you expect about 1,000 athletes and spectators (that’s how many were last year), roughly every third person should eat a piece of cake. This seems realistic to you, as there will certainly be some who can not get enough of your cakes. Nevertheless, you need a good marketing concept to achieve this realistic but not unsportsmanlike goal. Because: probably only about half of those present will eat either an ice cream or cake. This makes it clear that you must pursue a clear strategy in order to gain a clear competitive advantage over the ice cream seller.

From own market research (you like to eat ice cream yourself often) you know that the ice cream of your competitor contains a lot of sugar – much more than, for example, in your cake. In addition, “Gelato Milanese” uses a relatively large amount of food coloring, as the ice impresses with bright colors. We therefore decide to stand out from your competitors by using only natural ingredients – the motto of your marketing strategy is differentiation and follows the slogan “natural energy tastes better”

Marketing tools – What is important for customers?

After you know your target group, have created an optimal product for it, set goals and have clearly positioned yourself, it is time to work out the marketing concept. In a first step, you define the marketing tools relevant to your target group in our marketing concept example.

The key question with you is which marketing tools you want to use for your cake sale. From a friend who often sells cake at events, you have learned that in addition to delicious and optimally presented pieces of cake and an attractive stand is well positioned, short waiting times, friendly service, a fair price and “funny advertising” are important. We therefore choose to use the classic 4P’s of marketing.

The next step is now the actual heart of the marketing concept example – the design of the individual marketing measures!

Make it the right mix – The heart of the marketing concept

As we chose to use the 4P’s of marketing, we decide on the following marketing mix:

• Product: You have already defined the 3 cake variants. In addition, you decide on an innovative ecological napkin, on which the piece of cake is served
• Place: The sale is made from your small stand, which you have created from wooden pallets. In addition, your children will help you pick up the orders and serve the cake pieces should there be a long queue
• Price: Their cakes are of high quality made exclusively with natural ingredients. So you decide to sell a piece of cake for 2 Euros (20 cents more than an ice cream). Based on your calculation, you know that you earn about 1.20 Euro per piece of cake. For families you also have a special “sports family” offer – 3 pieces of cake for 5 euros.
• Promotion: In order to advertise additionally, you have agreed with the responsible organizer (a good friend of yours) that the loudspeakers in the break at 15 o’clock draw attention to “energy with cake” – not only the athletes, but also the spectators through to the finale at 18 o’clock. In addition, you have created advertising posters that are attached behind the gates.

With these marketing measures and the detailed schedule you have created a promising marketing concept that will hopefully lead to success!

Conclusion: All 360 pieces of cake sold!

The big day for our marketing concept Example has finally arrived! The football tournament takes place in good weather and the cake pieces are very well received. So good that already at 15.30 clock – almost directly after the announcement through the speakers – all sold out!

This is, of course, very pleasing, but you also know that you have given away sales potential. For next year, you plan with 600 pieces of cake that you want to sell! In order for this to work, you will be advertising twice over the loudspeakers – but then, for a small fee, you will also appear as a “sponsor”. In addition, you also offer blueberry muffins next year and would like to offer the “delivery service”, which arrived very well, the next year all day long.